1804 - The Oruktor Amphibolos
The Oruktor Amphibolos
Oliver Evans' most famous device was the Oruktor Amphibolos, or "Amphibious Digger", built on commission from the city of Philadelphia who asked Evans to turn his talent to the problem of dredging and cleaning the city's dockyards. The result was a 30-foot long 15 ton contraption which debuted in 1804. A 5 horse-power steam engine was inside a small boat hull. The hull was set on 4 wheels; the engine could be used to power two of them, moving the vehicle on land, or to turn a paddle wheel in back, propelling it through water, or a dredge. This was the first self-powered amphibious vehicle, as well as the first self-powered land vehicle in the United States (steam powered automobiles had already been used earlier in France and Great Britain). The Oruktor Amphibolos saw several years of service in Philadelphia and became a famous site of the city at the time. It moved through the water quite well, but steering on land was quite awkward. Oliver Evans wrote up proposals to mechanize stage coach lines, but failed to get backing from investors. In 1812 he published a rather visionary description of the nation connected by a network of railroad lines with transportation by swift steam locomotives. It should be remembered that at the time the locomotive was little more than a crude curiousity, and no attempts to use it for long distance transport had yet been made; see: History of rail transport. In 1819 while in New York City Oliver Evans was informed that his laboratory and workshop in Philadelphia had burned to the ground. Evans suffered from a stroke at the news, and died soon after. |
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